Jaspers Defeat Siena 8-7 on Wild Pitch in the 9th

RIVERDALE, N.Y. - With the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Manhattan College's Chris Kalousdian scampered home on a wild pitch to score the winning run, giving the Jaspers a wild 8-7 comeback victory over Siena on Sunday afternoon.

Trailing 4-1 in the fourth, Manhattan rallied to tie the game with three runs in the bottom of the fourth. Christian Santisteban cranked his second double of the game to start the inning and Brendan Slattery followed by drawing a four-pitch walk. Joe McClennan then chopped one over the third baseman's head down the left field line for an RBI double to cut the deficit to 4-2.

Mikey Miranda followed with a run-scoring single to push McClennan to third. That got the Jaspers within a run with one out. Yoandry Galan was the next batter and got down a squeeze bunt at a pitch that nearly hit him to plate the tying run.

Slattery ripped a two-run double down the left field line in the following inning to give Manhattan its first lead of the game, 6-4 in the fifth. Siena got two runs back in the next half-inning on an RBI triple by Mike Allen, who scored on a sacrifice fly by John Rooney, tying the game at 6-6.

In the bottom of the sixth, Miranda drove the first pitch of the inning over the left field fence for his first career home run. It gave the Jaspers a 7-6 lead, one Manhattan would hold until the eighth.

Siena took advantage of a leadoff walk and two errors in the eighth to push across the tying run, but Manhattan reliever Matt Simonetti was able to limit the damage, getting the final two outs of the frame to keep the game tied at 7-7.

Simonetti worked around a two-out walk in the top of the ninth to give the Jaspers a chance to win it in the bottom of the ninth. With one out, Kalousdian beat out a slow roller on the infield and stole second base. Two batters later, Siena chose to intentionally walk Santisteban, then Slattery worked out a walk after an eight-pitch at-bat.

Siena reliever Neil Fryer got ahead of Joe McClennan 0-2 with the bases loaded and two outs. Fryer's next pitch then scooted between the legs of catcher Patrick Ortland and to the backstop. Kalousdian alertly sprinted to the plate, sliding in safely with the winning run as the Jaspers' dugout spilled out onto the field to celebrate the victory.

"The guys came out with good energy today," head coach Jim Duffy said after the game. "Siena is the best team in the league coming into the series. For us to take two out of three from them is a big accomplishment for us."

Kalousdian went 3-for-5 in the game and scored three runs, while Santisteban (2-for-4, two doubles, RBI), Slattery (2-for-3, two RBI) and Miranda (2-for-4, HR, two RBI) all had big days at the plate for the Jaspers. Matt Simonetti pitched 1 2/3 hitless innings to earn his first collegiate win on the mound.

With the win, Manhattan won its second consecutive series within the conference, improving its mark to 8-13 with one more MAAC weekend to play.

NOTES:

Manhattan's pitching staff struck out eight batters in the game ... Christian Santisteban was 5-for-11 with four doubles in the three-game series ... he now has 17 doubles on the season ... Brendan Slattery had two outfield assists from left field ... he started a fly ball double play after catching one on the warning track in the third inning ... Slattery then fired a perfect relay throw to Joe McClennan to Mikey Miranda at the plate to cut down a runner at home to end the fourth inning ... Slattery also batted .600 with a .692 on-base percentage in the three-game series ... Michael Martin yielded an unearned run in two innings of relief ... Shawn Kanwisher allowed two runs and struck out two in 2 1/3 innings of relief after starter William Fabra exited after three innings ... Manhattan is 7-5 at home this season ... Jose Carrera stole his 18th base of the season in 18 tries ... Chris Kalousdian also registered his 18th stolen base during the game.